Benefits of sharing child custody

On behalf of Koiles Pratt Family Law Group posted in Child Custody on Monday, September 11, 2017.

Children react to divorce in several different ways. Some will lash out and purposely stir up trouble, and other will withdraw into themselves. There are still others that will act as if nothing is wrong until no one is watching. Parents in Massachusetts might consider sharing child custody as a way to provide a stable environment for their children.

More often than not, the custody of any children in a divorce is awarded to the mother. This is usually done to spare the children from enduring too much stress during the divorce. It is also done in hopes that it will prevent the children from being caught in the middle of any disagreements that their parents might have and from being made to believe that they must choose a side. Unfortunately, this also makes it very easy for one parent to become the disciplinarian and the other to become the fun parent. Sharing custody of the children allows both parents to spend a greater amount of time with the children and to more easily share in parental duties.

A professor at Wake Forest University re-examined more than forty studies about divorce conflicts and how they affect children. She found that even when the parents didn't get along with each other, the children still benefited more from having a relationship with both parents. The professor's findings were published in Psychology, Public Policy, and Law.

Many people believe that sharing child custody after a divorce can have many benefits for the children involved. Children who are from shared custody homes have been shown to have more success in school, have fewer disciplinary problems and, in general, have a more optimistic view of their futures. Parents going through a divorce in Massachusetts might consider consulting a professional about the benefits of a shared custody agreement and how such an agreement might work for them and their children.

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